GBBO/BBC Key Lime Pie

Ryan's Key Lime Pie from BBC Food website

I'm not going to discuss how to make this pie as you can find the recipe on the BBC website (I believe this one is Ryan's recipe):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/key_lime_pie_53484

I actually made this soon after Ryan made it on GBBO and was highly praised for it and I used the American Key Lime Pie recipe from the book The Great British Bake Off How to Turn Everyday Bakes into Showstoppers. So anyway, when I was shopping for the ingredients I looked up the recipe online. It wasn't until I was about to start the pie that I noticed the recipe in the book asked for double cream. Well, the online didn't ask for double cream so I thought I had better read the both recipes properly. What I discovered was that the the recipes are fairly similar (except for the double cream) but the BBC one is baked and the GBBO one isn't. 

So now I have made both and both are absolutely delicious! My only tip is that you will only need 2 egg whites for the Italian meringue. I used the four that the recipe asks for and it makes way too much. I even made macrons with it and still had some left. I would just freeze the other two and use them next time you want to make a pavlova. 

Creamy Matar Paneer (Indian Cheesy Peas)

Okay...it's been over 2 years since I have posted on this blog. Yes, I know that to get any interest and to keep any interest, I need to post regularly. To be honest, I started this blog just to see if I could do it which it seems I can. I didn't realise what a commitment a blog would be. I mean you have to make a conscious effort to take photos while you are cooking and then of course there's the time and effort of actually creating a post. Anyway, I have had a good excuse. I have spent the last year doing my PGCE to become a Food Technology teacher. Let's just say I pretty much had no social like for the year so writing a blog was the last thing on my mind.

Well, let's get down to the food!

This is a recipe I learnt from my mum, she was famous for her matar paneer. I have never had one as good as hers anywhere else. I don't even know where she got the recipe from. My husband and son absolutely love this dish.

Paneer is basically cheese. It is really easy to make but you can buy it from most supermarkets too. It is in the cheese section. It doesn't have a lot of taste so it's more of a texture thing. If you do buy it, soak it in water first so it softens up a bit. 

Browning the paneer gives it a better texture and makes the dish look more attractive.

As with most authentic Indian recipes, there is no definite recipe so I will try to give as accurate amounts as possible. Ultimately, you can adjust the recipe to your taste.

Creamy Matar Paneer - serves 4

Ingredients:
1 block of paneer (homemade or shop bought)
2 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2-3 medium green chillies, chopped finely
2cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Salt, to taste
300-400g passata (depending on how saucy you want it)
A couple of handfuls of frozen petis pois
2 tablespoons ground almonds
2-3 tablespoons cream (or Greek yogurt, if you are being healthy)
Fresh coriander, chopped

Method:
Cut the paneer into approximately 1 inch cubes. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick frying pan (it must be non-stick). Add the paneer cubes in batches and lightly brown on at least 2 sides. If you have the patience, you can brown all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside until later.

In the same pan, heat the other tablespoon of oil until hot. Add the cumin seeds and heat until they start to pop, do not let them burn. Take the pan off the heat if they do start to burn. Turn the heat right down and the green chillies, ginger, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric and salt. Cook gently for a few minutes, if the mixture looks like it is starting to burn, add a splash of water and continue cooking gently. It is important to cook the spices properly otherwise you will have a powdery taste of the dry spices. After a few minutes, add the passata. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes then add the browned paneer. Cover again and let cook for 5-10 minutes, adding a splash of water if the sauce is getting too thick.

Add the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the ground almonds and cream and heat through. Check the seasoning and finish with chopped coriander.

I love to eat this with freshly made chapatis,

Croissants...just like the ones in France.

Whenever Masterchef is on, I get a craving to cook some more challenging dishes.  The last time I made croissants was when I lived in Canada and I'm pretty sure there was no yeast involved. I started the weekend by baking some posh Jammy Dodgers (I'll post this later), then I felt I needed to perfect my chocolate fondant skills and finally croissants.  

Before I discuss croissants, I must tell you about my chocolate fondants.  I exhausted all my recipe books to find the best recipe.  They are all pretty much the same but in the end I used Felicity Cloak's recipe on the Guardian website. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/feb/10/how-cook-perfect-chocolate-fondants
I did add a bit more flour as I felt her recipe didn't have quite enough. Anyway, they collapsed...another minute and I think they would have been perfect. The annoying thing is that the 2 times that my husband has made them, they were perfect.  

SO...croissants.  I know I said that part of the reason of writing this blog was to use my cookbooks more and to follow the recipes exactly.  I just can't do it!  

I consulted 3 of my cookbooks before starting; Leith's Baking Bible, The Great British Bake Off-How To Bake and Pastry by Michel Roux.  I pretty much used the Great British Bake Off recipe as it was the only one that used dry yeast and I didn't plan ahead enough to get fresh.  The only thing I changed was the amount of milk I used as the other 2 recipes used less. I probably used about 290 - 300ml. I discounted Roux as he used a lot more yeast than the others and he cooked them at such a low temperature which seems to go against the theory of initially cooking at a very high temperature so the butter doesn't ooze out. You would think the French guy would get it right! Hey, I can't totally dis him as I didn't try his recipe. The one tip I did use from him was to make a small incision at the top end of the triangle before rolling them into the croissant shape and I also saw Anna Olson do this.

I know it's a bit of a faff making croissants but if you plan ahead and are spending the weekend at home, give them a go as these were just as good as the ones you get in a French boulangerie. They were crispy on the outside and beautifully flaky and buttery on the inside. My mouth is watering just as I am describing them! Make lots and freeze them.

Here is the ingredient list from Great British Bake-Off - How to Bake. The method for making croissants is pretty much the same regardless of the source of the recipe, there may be the odd tweak here and there.

Makes about 20

500g strong white bread flour (I used half plain flour)
1 x 7g sachet fast-action yeast
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp sea salt flakes, crushed (I just used fine)
325ml cool skimmed milk (I used 290-300ml semi-skimmed)
250g unsalted butter in a block, chilled
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp milk, to glaze

Put the flour into a mixing bowl of a free-standing mixer or large mixing bowl. Mix in the yeast and make a well. Add the sugar and salt to the milk and stir until dissolved. Add the milk into the well and mix on low speed until the dough just comes away from the sides of the bowl but thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to prove for 1 hour or until doubled, in a warm place, I usually place in my oven.  At this point, I must admit that I was a little disheartened as the dough was a bit firm but I found out that it didn't matter.

Gently punch down the dough and put back into the bowl and re-cover. Put into the fridge for at least 6 hours but I recommend overnight as that is what I did. 

Take the block of butter out of the fridge and and place between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. Start pounding gently until it is half of it's original thickness, fold over and repeat a couple of times making sure that it is still cold. Shape into a square about 12cm on each side. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and punch down and shape into a ball.  Cut a deep cross into the ball. Place the ball so the cross looks like an 'X' rather than a '+' facing you. (I wish I took photos of this!) Roll the dough from the middle to the edge on each side so you have 4 flaps and it is still thick in the centre. The reason you do this is so the dough on the one side is not too thin. Make sure the middle bit is large enough to hold the butter. Place the butter in the middle and fold over the four flaps making sure the butter is completely covered. Roll out to a large rectangle approx. 40cm x 75cm, roll from the middle out. Fold the rectangle into 3, so if the short side is facing you, fold the bottom third to the middle and then fold the top third over this...like a business letter. Give the dough a quarter turn and turn upside down. Roll out again to the same size as before and fold as before.  Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Repeat the process as above so the dough will have had 4 turns and folds in total. Refrigerate again for 20-30 minutes, but if you left it longer it won't matter as I left mine for about  5 hours as we went out for the day.

Make a triangle template with cardboard measuring 10cm on the base and 18cm high. Roll the dough out so  it is about 3mm thick, approx. 40cm x 75cm.  Trim the edges of the rectangle; a pizza cutter works well here. Use the template to cut out the triangles.  Working quickly, cut a 1cm cut in the middle of the base of the triangle, slightly pull the corners of the base and roll towards the point. Place on a baking sheet and turn the points of the croissant inwards to make the crescent shape. At this point, you can freeze any extra croissants to bake when you have the urge.  

Brush the croissants with the egg glaze, working from the middle out so they don;t glue together. Place in a warm place and let prove for about an hour or until doubled in size.  Once doubled, put in the fridge so the butter firms up. Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius, gas mark 8.  Cook for 10 minutes then turn the temperature to 190 degrees Celsius, gas mark 5 and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until the croissants are a deep brown. Cool on a wire rack.